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United States (US) President Donald Trump has said he is sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv with a proposal to end the war in Ukraine, which has lasted more than four years.
The diplomatic push is Washington’s latest attempt to break the deadlock in negotiations over the conflict, Europe’s deadliest since World War II, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that the envoys are expected in Kyiv on Sunday.
US outlet Axios reported that Witkoff and Kushner would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday before travelling to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday. The Kremlin has declined to comment.
Trump said the two negotiators would assess whether a realistic path existed to end the war.
“I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,” Trump told reporters.
“They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Credit: Reuters
Trump declined to say whether the proposal would require Ukraine to surrender territory, an idea he has previously raised, but said, “We have an idea for peace.”
The trip will be the first visit to war-torn Kyiv by Witkoff and Kushner since Trump returned to the White House last year and pledged to end the conflict.
Witkoff, a businessman and Trump ally, and Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, have played roles in US diplomatic efforts over ceasefires in Gaza and Iran. Witkoff has also made several trips to Moscow as part of previous attempts to advance negotiations.
Grinding war
The renewed diplomatic effort comes as Russia and Ukraine continue to trade long-range missile and drone strikes.
Hours before Trump announced the envoys’ mission, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv, according to Zelensky.
Zelensky said the attack targeted the office of the agency’s acting chief and marked the first strike on the headquarters since Russia’s invasion began.
Despite the attack, Zelensky proposed a temporary ceasefire during the US envoys’ visit.
“There will be no airstrikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire — without its own airstrikes — for the duration needed to conduct these talks,” he said in his evening address.
Russia had not immediately responded to the proposal.
Zelensky had warned on Wednesday that Russian airspace would remain “completely unsafe” and filled with Ukrainian drones for as long as Moscow continued its offensive.
The visit by Witkoff and Kushner comes more than a week after a rare trip to Moscow by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who, according to US media reports, warned Russia against attacking NATO member states.
Earlier this week, Washington also hosted Russia’s finance minister at a G20 gathering in North Carolina.
